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Accounting Enrollment Surges as Profession Rebuilds Its Talent Pipeline
56,000 new accounting majors since 2023.
By CPA Trendlines Research
Accounting programs at U.S. colleges and universities are seeing a resurgence after years of decline, providing fresh evidence that the profession’s talent shortage may be easing.
MORE The Fastest-Growing Jobs in Accounting Are Not Accounting Jobs | Crowdsourced Salary Data Sparks Accounting Change | Retention Isn’t About Perks or Paychecks Anymore | Why CPAs Quit Public Accounting | Students Who Get Ahead Don’t Wait for Graduation | The Staffing Problem Nobody Talks About | New CPA Licensure Pathway Opens Doors to Talent | | Gen Z Surges into Accounting for All the Reasons Your Mother Told You
MORE in Pay & Comp | Staffing & Recruiting
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New data from the National Student Clearinghouse and the AICPA show that accounting is now outperforming most other business disciplines in attracting undergraduate students.
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Guillaume Turmel: What Genuine Workplace Inclusion Feels Like Beyond Policies & Programs | MOVE Like This
“Inclusion often depends on whether people are willing to communicate, listen, and repair misunderstandings when they happen.”
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MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research
In this episode of the MOVE Like This podcast, Bonnie Ruszczyk sits down with Guillaume Turmel, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne whose research focuses on how people experience genuine inclusion in the workplace. Drawing from his own experiences working internationally, helping launch an LGBTQ+ employee resource group, and observing the disconnect between strong DEI programs and employees still feeling “slightly off,” Guillaume explores why inclusion is far more personal and complex than most organizations assume.
MORE MOVE Like This | MORE CPA Trendlines Streaming Network | JOIN MOVE 2026
One of the most compelling parts of the conversation centers around Guillaume’s comparison of inclusion to “love languages.” He explains that organizations often focus heavily on the actions they believe create inclusion, such as policies, programs, or leadership behaviors, without spending enough time understanding how those efforts are actually experienced by employees.
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Bradley Burnett: ERC Trap Threatens Thousands of Taxpayers
While cases stall, the right to sue could expire.
By CPA Trendlines Research
Thousands of business taxpayers still battling Employee Retention Credit disallowances could lose their right to sue the IRS in 2026 because the two-year refund-suit deadline keeps running while cases sit in IRS examination or Appeals, a risk tax attorney Bradley Burnett calls part of a “colossal mess” of statute traps, litigation risks and unresolved audits.
The National Taxpayer Advocate estimates roughly 28,000 taxpayers may be affected, prompting the IRS to roll out a special Form 907 extension process for certain ERC claimants approaching the deadline.
CPE WEBINAR
Covid ERC in 2026: Picking Up the Pieces: Which Are Ticking Time Bombs?
With Bradley Burnett, J.D., LL.M.
Thursday, June 18, 1-4 p.m. ET
“What is left … a colossal mess,” Burnett tells CPA Trendlines Academy attendees. “Some of those broken pieces out there may be time bombs.”
The filing window has closed. The refund fights have not.
57% Say PE Threatens the CPA Brand. But They’ll Take the Money.
CPA PE Deal Tracker™: 13 firms rolled up in May. 92 so far this year.
By CPA Trendlines
As the CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ adds 13 more closings for the month of May, a new survey shows accountants worrying about PE tarnishing the image and reputation of the profession. But half say they might take the money anyway.
MORE Private Equity | MORE All 466 Deals for the Last 10 Years
Nearly half of the professionals surveyed— 49.5 percent — describe themselves as decidedly opposed to private equity investment: fiercely independent, not interested, never ever.
The rest, a bare but discernible majority, are not. They would do a deal for the right price. Or they are already in play. Or have already done a deal.
“It only makes sense to keep our options open,” says Michael Royer of Royer Advisors and Accountants in Falmouth, Maine. He is not opposed, and he is not sold, adding “it’s still a personal business — and we don’t know the full impact of AI.”
CPA PE Deal Tracker™: 10 Years, 466 Deals
Deal Log, Analysis & Leaderboards – Monthly through May 2026
Where the Deals Are: Top Ten U.S. States
By CPA Trendlines Research
Private equity is buying accounting firms faster than the profession can name the buyers.
MORE CPA PE Deal Tracker™: 57% Say PE Threatens the CPA Brand. But They’ll Take the Money.
MORE Private Equity
The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ now counts 466 verified deals reaching back to 2016, and the shape of that market is no longer a story about scattered tuck-ins. It is a story about concentration.